Recording of information on magnetic tape is now well known, and has heretofore been utilized in a number of diverse areas with recording of video and/or audio information being one of the better known uses of such recording. It has also been suggested that magnetic tape recording can also be utilized to provide backup, or temporary storage, for computer-generated data (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,380,047).
When recording video and/or audio information, a fairly high error rate can be tolerated (typically on the order of one error in 10.sup.3 to 10.sup.6 bits). Such high error rates cannot be tolerated, however, with at least some other uses, and cannot be tolerated, for example, where the device is to serve as a backup unit for a computer to store computer-generated data where the error rate must typically be no greater than on the order of one error in 10.sup.13 bits.
Recording on 8 mm magnetic tape has also been heretofore suggested and/or utilized, and it is likewise known that information can be recorded on magnetic tape using a helical scan arrangement wherein information is recorded on the tape in stripes that extend across the tape at an angle with respect to the edge of the tape and the running direction of the tape (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,912).
It has also been heretofore suggested that a digital recording system could be effectively utilized for storing information, and it has been suggested that such a recording system could be utilized in connection with computer-generated data (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,050).
It has also been suggested that a video cassette recorder can be utilized to store computer-generated data, and that such data can be handled by data blocks (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,048).
Thus, while varius tape recording techniques have been heretofore suggested and/or utilized, improved devices and/or methods can nevertheless still be advantageously utilized to provide, for example, high recording density and/or low error rates.